Gannett Says Board Okays Spin-off

(RTTNews) - Media holding company Gannett Co Inc (GCI) on Monday said its board has approved its separation into two publicly traded companies.

The separation would comprise a broadcasting and digital company named TEGNA and new Gannett, which will retain the name Gannett Co Inc and will include its publishing properties and affiliated digital assets.

Under the terms of the transaction, Gannett shareholders will retain their shares of Gannett (which will be renamed TEGNA) and receive one share of new Gannett for every two shares of Gannett stock they own on the record date of June 22, and new Gannett shares will begin "regular way" trading on June 29.

Upon completion of the separation, TEGNA will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TGNA and new Gannett will trade under the symbol GCI. distribution date.

New Gannett initially will be virtually debt-free and expects to pay a regular cash dividend of $0.64 per share annually and to commence a $150 million share repurchase program to be completed over a three-year period.

It expects to continue to invest in the business through organic growth initiatives and potential acquisitions while returning capital to shareholders. Concurrent with the separation, new Gannett expects to enter into a revolving credit facility of approximately $500 million to provide additional flexibility.

TEGNA, at separation, expects to enter into a new revolving credit facility of about $1.3 billion. Gannett's existing debt of approximately $4.4 billion will remain with TEGNA.

TEGNA has very significant cash flow to invest in its businesses to drive strong revenue growth while returning capital to shareholders.

TEGNA expects to pay a regular cash dividend of $0.56 per share annually which, combined with new Gannett's expected dividend, represents a 10% increase over the current Gannett dividend.

TEGNA also plans to commence a $750 million share repurchase program to be completed over a three-year period.